On December 6th, 12 men met in a confined space to battle it out for ‘top gun’ status. While not exactly a High Noon showdown, the ‘combatants’ came armed with cleavers, razor-sharp knives and woks. Woks? Yes, woks. The ‘combatants were the 12 elite chefs competing for the inaugural Chef of the Year title awarded by the 2011 HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards and their showdown site was the kitchen of Richmond’s Rainflower Restaurant.
“We could not have been more thrilled with the calibre of the chefs who entered. The competition included the ‘best of the best’ representing the top Chinese restaurants in Metro Vancouver,” says Founding Judging Panel Chair Chef Stephen Wong. “We were pleased to see that not only traditional Chinese restaurants participated – the executive chef of Wild Rice Modern Chinese Restaurant was there and brought his contemporary style to the event.”
The cook-off competition consisted of three rounds with different chefs competing in each round. Each finalist prepared two separate dishes, each one featuring one of the three mandatory local ingredients: Geoduck, Wingtat Free Run Chicken and Tofu. Each dish was assessed based on four main criteria: Flavour, Presentation, Preparation/Technique and Mise en Place/Hygiene.
The judging panel itself is a ‘who’s who’ of Chinese chefdom. In addition to Chef Stephen Wong, the panel included: Chef Tony Kam (Hong Kong Canada Chinese Chefs Association), Chef Conrad Leung (Head of Asian Culinary Department at Vancouver Community College) and Chef Robert Wong (the youngest person to ever be included in Hong Kong’s ‘Top 100 Chefs’ (2006) and winner of Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Best of the Best Culinary Awards – Signature Dish).
When the cleavers stopped, the flames died down and the last chopstick was set to rest, three chefs were left standing. Gold Award and title of HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards Chef of the Year goes to Tony Luk, Executive Chef, Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond for his two dishes – Sautéed Geoduck with Egg White and Italian Herbs / Drunken Free-Run Chicken with Yunnan Wild Morel Mushroom Sauce.
Silver was won by Sam Leung, Executive Chef, Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver (Duo of Chicken: Free-Run Chicken Parcels with Truffle Sauce/ Sautéed Free-Run Chicken and Deep-Fried Tofu with Fish Paste).
Wing Ho, Executive Chef, Fortune House Seafood Restaurant in Burnaby took bronze with his two dishes Stir-fried Geoduck with Foie Gras and XO Sauce and Roasted Free-Run Chicken Seasoned with Herbs and Spices. The awards will be presented to the winners at the 2011 HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards Ceremony on January 18, 2011.
The 2011 HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards wishes to thank title sponsor HSBC Bank Canada and the following sponsors who help to make these awards possible: Tourism Richmond, Remy Martin, Mercedes Benz, Quintessentially Canada, Amoy Food limited, Tsit Wing Group, Underwater Harvesters’ Association, Wingtat Game Bird Packers, CityTV, OMNI TV, CHMB AM 1320, Fairchild Radio AM1470 & FM96.1, Global Chinese Press, Gcpnews.com, World Journal, Canadian Dim Sum Chefs Association, Chinese Canadian Chefs Association, Hong Kong Canadian Chinese Chefs Club.
For more information on the HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards: www.chineserestaurantawards.com
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